The Long and Winding Road

No, not another aging superstar in the Bronx—one more beloved icon, still chasing records, trying to get back to where he once belonged.

Not another awkward moment with a legend who's had plenty of hits, but can't live and let die.

He is not 17. You know what I mean?

But the Yankees saw him standing there, and just like with A.J. Burnett, they had to bust out the checkbook.

How's he going to fit in? Is he going to play fifth base, squeeze in somewhere in between Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez? Is he going to swipe at-bats from a simmering Jorge Posada? How's he going to handle being bossed around by Joe Girardi, who wasn't even born when he was playing in the minors at the Cavern Club?

Remember how cocky and brilliant he was back then, the swagger? "Yes I'm going to be a star," he said, offering the steering wheel of his car.

But now he's been to the bottom, gone back to the top, stopped and gone for a ride. The career has gone helter-skelter. At times he's been a man on the run—here, there, and everywhere.

At his age, do the Yankees still need him? Will they still feed him, when he's grounding out into a game-ending double play against the Red Sox?

Did you see his bizarre press conference on ESPN? "Flew in from Miami Beach BOAC," he said. "Didn't get to bed last night. Oh the way the paper bag was on my knee. Man I had a dreadful flight."

Now he's Back in the MLB AL East. You don't know how unlucky you are.

Yesterday all his troubles seemed so far away. But according to Bill James, he's not half the man he used to be.

"Now I need a place to hide away," he said not long ago.

A place to hide away? Two words, buddy: Houston. Astros.

A few lonely voices have spoken out against the signing. Look at Mike Francesa, darning his socks in the night when there's nobody there.

ENLARGE

Paul McCartney
MPL Communications Ltd via Getty

But his defenders point out that he's been through the battles. You think Jeter's had it tough sharing a stage with A-Rod? Try this guy's famous collaborator—a genius, but not always a basket of peaches.

They argue he can handle New York—that all his life he was waiting for this moment to arise. They say he will walk into that locker room and whisper words of wisdom. Let him be.

But does anyone remember the disaster with Kevin Brown? It took the Yankees soooooo long to find out. But they found out.

Oh well. At least it's diverting attention from that dirty story of the dirty man, and his clinging wife who doesn't understand.

Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da, life goes on. Maybe we'll be amazed.

But don't complain in August if you're nine games behind the Blue Jays.

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